Chavara
a Transformational Leader
Rich Dad and Poor Dad
is a book by Robert T. Kiyosaki just read and closed. The gist of the book is
how both the rich and the poor teach their kids to earn money. As we are
sitting on the shore of the Blessed Sacrament, we remember a Dad who was rich
in spiritual, intellectual and social reformations and he teaches how to be
rich alike. Let us ask a question to ourselves what did make him to be rich in
these realms? I believe he had a Penual experience. Penual is a place which we
find in the book of Genesis where Jacob sees the face of God. There is a slight
connection between this place and the last lines of the Gospel passage. “I tell
you just as you did it one of my family, you did it to me.” It clearly portrays
where we can see the face of God, and it’s true in our service to the
Marginalized. Then who is this marginalized? It doesn’t mean just poor people
or low cast people alone but includes who all not having access to what common
man or woman has. Seeing the face God in the other made Bl. Chavara a
transformational leader. Whatever he did in his life span had given access to
the marginalized whom Jesus considers as His family members. Don’t assume that
there is no notion of marginalization in the modern world. It is at hand in modern form. The present
Indian scenario is a good example where humanity and all its qualities are
demeaned. The flat culture, People stay at same home without loving each other,
brother kills brother, father rapes daughter, thinking that they are mere
objectives for one’s own pleasure. As we are getting closer to the canonization
process of Bl. Chavara exactly 100 days ahead. Let us think of becoming a
transformational leader. To inculcate and presume his leadership model we need
to engage in an ongoing process of transformation, transformation from my
present life to a life planned for me by God. Then St. Paul will tell by
looking at us” You are a letter of Christ prepared by Bl. Chavara written not
with ink but with the spirit of the living God.” So let us pray for that Grace
to be a letter in Chavara’s Poem.
Jithin Kalan CMI
